More often than not we are taught the importance of social upliftment, equality & opportunity. And it is no surprise how we as a community try our best to defame these words by just a lecture in schools & colleges. Seldom do we actualise the importance of equality in the society, or even try to. Until one fine evening I came across Abhinav, the founder of KIWI – Kisan Window.
Mr. Abhinav Ahluwalia, Founder KIWI
For those who would like to know about the concept, KIWI stands for: “ Ki” = Kisan = Farmers “ Wi “= Window = Opportunity. And there I stood listening to Abhinav & his team of social scientists who have paved a beautiful way to take a peek into the farmer’s life. A window to the agrarian society in India. Ki-Wi, Kisan Window is a window of opportunity which creates a platform for farmers of India to present the world with health concious food. Kisan Window works with farmers at the grass-root level to bring you organic and conscious food that does justice to the exceptional form of existence, that you are. Bringing together farmers across the borders of India, Kisan Window gives them an opportunity to uplift themselves. The concept really intrigued me as I started digging deeper into Abhinav’s thought behind the organisation. But words are never sufficient so he offered me to join one of his workshops on women health issues. Returning home I was still wondering how exactly is Kisan Window related to women health issues. It was on March 25th 2018, that I was invited to be a part of this beautiful workshop held at Anirudh Ashram, in Vikas Nagar Dehradun.
The workshop had 2 objectives:
1. Gather a group of girls from the village, interact with them & give them a quick peek into health & nutrition.
2. The purpose would be served once the girls practiced the suggested routine by their inhouse expert, Vaidya Shikha Prakash, Ayurvedic Consultant & child prodigy of Vaidya Balendu Parakash Ji, a Padma Shri awardee, in the field of Ayurveda.
The agenda was pretty much clear but I was still wondering how would they actually help the young girls be their own doctors so that they can take care of their own bodies. This was exciting & Abhinav’s team left no stone unturned to make it an interactive workshop! The session began with “Stethescope – earphone to your heart” as Abhinav put it across, the girls giggled. It was a perfect start to an engaging conversation. The next question was who wanted to be a doctor, a teacher, or a traveller. Well, the answers were such “they all wanted to just explore around like me! *Smirk* “
The girls present at the workshop were aged between 12 – 18 years old & were individually asked to share their daily routine aloud. While Vaidya Shikha, lent her ear to each one of their routines, diets & exercise regime, she had a personal suggestion for each one of them.
Vaidya Shikha, in conversation
Not only was it a verbal advice but Kisan Window team ensured that they made a balanced diet chart, which would help them ascertain the girls progress in the coming few weeks.
The interesting part about the workshop was that apart from just the factual “gyan” they were also made to relish the little joys, like that of enjoying pakoras – a good example of balanced diet according to Dr. Shikha. I myself was surprised at the things I was missing out in my daily diet.
What came next was an idea sprouting from a funny bone like that of Abhinav’s, where he posed questions like “Lets climb the Mount Everest…Samiksha will be serving us Pakoras there. I’m sure we can do the hard work to get some pakoras – The balanced diet!” Soon he suggested to give the girls a cinematic exposure to the movie Poorna.
Pakoras & Juice – A Balanced Diet
The conversations were getting really interesting when the dynamic girls were all up for getting some inspiration the following week.
The second half of the workshop was more about the general health issues that the girls were facing, starting from cough/cold to issues like brittle nails. Vaidya Shikha had handy advice to each of the issues which were centered around the age old practice of Ayurveda.
KIWI – Team
The girls just couldn’t stop questioning her as now they realised what it meant to be the doctor of your own body. This was the achievement of the workshop. Where the agenda was met with a purpose, the purpose of actualising the issue & dissolving the health issues completely.
So here are the social scientists who are doing a commendable job not only empowering the farmers but every rural family who has been in the dark light until now. The sense of opportunity of course lies in the organisation’s hand, but what matters is the vision of the entrepreneur implementing a thought into action & not only for the sake of it but also for delivering qualitative results. Results which are measurable in the long run, which are empowering & also benefits the society at large. So stay tuned to meet the social scientists in their second Workshop.
Read Part 2 here: Kisan Window: The Social Scientists (Part 2)